When Spells go Bad, aka Oops
by Silver Dragon Princess
Summary: hey, i finally updated, clap clap clap... read and review... i like it, so why can't you guys? *tear* summary: wowzers, stuff's gettin crazy in 5th year with harry and crew...
1. Ron's Confusion

"But I don't want to work on the stupid charm, Hermione," grumbled Harry Potter, a fifth year student at Hogwarts School. "Quidditch season starts next week! I should be training!"  
  
"Bah! Training! Harry, exams are only eight months away! You have to be prepared! You have to understand this charm now. You're not thinking about the charm and that's ruining your concentration! Come along! Just try it. Dinner is in an hour, you know. And if you don't get this today, it will cost you another free period." said Hermione Granger, Harry's muggle-born friend.  
  
Harry sighed as he stared determinedly across the room at Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon. He was going to get this charm even if it killed him! He wanted to get out of this stifling hot common room.  
  
"Come on, Harry, you great prat. We have better things to do than wait around all day for you to get this confusion charm," said Ron Weasley, another of Harry's friends. He had quite a talent for insulting people subtly, due to living with five older brothers and one sister. "And why is Hermione having you use Pig for practice? Why can't you use Crookshanks?"  
  
"Ron, hush. Let Harry concentrate." Hermione said. Then, to Harry, "You're saying the words all wrong. It's embodius limber, not emblodius lumber! Roll the 'r' at the end of limber, and make the 'bod' nice and long." then, pointing her wand at Ron, she demonstrated the charm perfectly.  
  
"Embodius limber," she said clearly and carefully.  
  
"Hey! What're you doing? You can't put this charm on me! I- errrrrrrrrr," Ron mumbled. "Hey! Who're you guys? What's going on?"  
  
"There. Now he won't be as troublesome for the next-" Hermione checked the grandfather clock in the common room. "-Oh, fifteen minutes or so. Then you can practice on him again. I don't think he'll mind too much." she laughed. "Well. I should be getting to the library, actually. I told Professor McGonagall that I would have that extra credit essay done by next Wednesday. We can practice after supper, all right?" Hermione turned to go out the portrait hole.  
  
"Hermione! What am I supposed to do with this confuddled curmudgeon?" Harry laughed at his choice of words.  
  
"Oh, when he snaps out of it, he won't remember anything." Hermione stated. "Oh, but make sure he doesn't run into any walls or anything." with that she turned once again and was out of the common room.  
  
"Oh, joy," Harry mumbled to himself. He was bored. He pointed his wand lazily at a fly that had just buzzed its way into the room from the north window. He said the words for the confusing charm, then watched in surprise as the fly appeared confused. "Yeah! I got it!" he shouted, then grimaced as he saw Dean Thomas as Seamus Finnigan coming down the stairs from the boy's dormitory.  
  
"Having fun with that Confusing Charm, are you, Harry?" said Seamus in his strong Irish accent.  
  
"Hey, guys. You want to play chess or something?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nope, can't, Harry old pal. We're going out to the lake to see what the seventh years have done to the giant squid this time. We can hear shouts from our windows." Dean said.  
  
"Yeah, it sounded pretty interesting from what I could hear of it. Okay, Harry, see you in the Great Hall at dinner!" Seamus said as he and Dean clambered out the portrait hole, snickering at some inside joke.  
  
Harry sighed. "Well, Ron, d'ya want to play chess?"  
  
"What's chess?" 


	2. The Singing Truth Potion

A/N: Sorry about the last chapter. I mean there wasn't too much of a 'finding a crazy spell' type thing going on. Well, I'll fix that. Here we go  
Chapter 2  
  
After Hermione's Confusing Charm had worn off Ron, Harry and Ron played chess until Hermione returned from the library. She had several spellbooks peeking out of the bag on her shoulder, which was hanging precariously as she clambered into the common room.  
"What's in the bag, Herm?" asked Harry as he practically stuck his nose into her bag.   
"Oh, nothing really. Just some books that I thought looked interesting." said Hermione.  
"Let's take a look, Harry," said Ron as he pulled one of the books out of the bag. "Whoa! Joke Spells of the Century? How to Cause Chaos by Charming? Hermione, I never knew you were a practical joker!"  
"What? Oh, dear, those aren't my books. I must have picked the wrong ones up off the counter once Madam Pince checked them out for me. I had better go take them back." she sighed.  
"No, Hermione, don't! We should check some of these charms out, right, Harry?" said Ron mischievously.  
"Ron! Harry! You shouldn't do that, you could get a detention if any of the teachers found out," said Hermione anxiously, wringing her hands.  
"Oh, have a bit of fun once in your life, Hermione!" said Harry,  
"Well, if you two really want to," she gave in, having lightened up a little since their fourth year.  
Ron opened up Joke Spells of the Century. "Hm, a Singing Potion? Guaranteed to make the person of your choice sing all of their true feelings for one day? Sounds interesting. Let's see.This one is a potion. You don't need to do any simmmering, it says, all you have to do is mix the ingredients cold, then spray it on the person of your choice. It says that they won't notice when you spray it on them."  
"What are the ingredients?" asked Harry, snatching the book from Ron. Hermione looked slightly disgruntled, with a 'you-shouldn't-be-doing-this' look on her face.  
Ron read aloud over Harry's shoulder, "You need two ounces of powdered bat's wings, one spoonful of essence of spider, and two tablespoons of essence of hummingbird. When you mix it all up, you put it in a spray bottle. Like the hairspray ones Hermione uses," he added with a glance at Hermione.  
"Okay, okay, you can use one of my spray bottles." she went up to the girls' dormitory to get one.  
"Ron, where's your Potions bag?" asked Harry. "Ron?"  
Ron came running down the stairs to the common room. "I got all the stuff, Harry." he said, out of breath. "and the cauldron." Ron and Harry set the cauldron on a table and hurriedly began putting the ingredients in. They were in a hurry because they didn't know when the rest of the Gryffindors would be back in the common room. In their rush, they didn't notice that they put WAY too much of everything in the cauldron. Whoever they picked for this joke would be really overdosed.  
"Here's the bottle, Harry," said Hermione, handing a large bottle to Harry. Harry and Ron then carefully poured the contents of the cauldron into the bottle. Once it was in there, Harry carefully put it in the pocket of his robe, and they all cleaned everything up.  
"Oh, Harry. There's still fifteen minutes before dinner. Want to practice the charm again?" asked Hermione.   
"Sure," Harry said, pulling out his wand. He pointed it at Ron, saying, "Embodius limber."   
"Why do you always practice charms on me?" asked Ron grouchily, before he went into a state of utter confusion again.  
They climbed out of the portrait hole and started the walk to the Great Hall for dinner, Harry clutching the spray bottle, Hermione talking out loud to herself, and Ron bumping into walls. 


	3. Malfoy singing Pink?

Disclaimer: I own nada!  
  
A/N: It's gonna get funnier, I promise!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
The Great Hall was very noisy as all the students were talking and eating. Silverware was clanging, and you could hear the occasional giggle drift from some of the girls. (And some of the boys.) Draco Malfoy, a fifth-year Slytherin boy, was angrily staring into his shepherd's pie wearing a perpetual scowl. The reason for his scowl was that dratted Hermione Granger! She had embarrassed him once again in front of the entire Care of Magical Creatures class, by insulting him and his family! All he had done was call her a little name. And if having a girl put him down wasn't bad enough, now he had Slytherin girls always trying to sympathize! It drove him absolutely batty. Speaking of batting, Pansy Parkinson, Draco's on- again, off-again girlfriend, was batting her eyelashes right in front of his face.  
  
"Draco," she cooed, why aren't you eating anything? Here, take-"  
  
"Pansy!" he interrupted, motioning her to move. "Would you get AWAY?"  
  
"Fine! I'm breaking up with you!" she said, and flounced away to her friends. Draco didn't really care, because it was the third time this week she'd broken up with him, anyway.  
  
Meanwhile, across the Great Hall, at the Gryffindor table…  
  
Ron and Harry were laughing together about some joke Fred had sent Ron in the post that morning. Hermione and Ginny were across from them, talking about some Muggle television show. Then Ron gasped,  
  
"Harry! The potion! I forgot all about it! Let's use it!" he said, snickering.  
  
"On who, though?" asked Harry, glancing about the Hall. "Hey, what about Malfoy?" he said, with a smirk.  
  
"But we'd have to wait until dinner's over," said Ron.  
  
"Well, look at our luck. Here he comes now…" Harry turned around in his seat to spray Malfoy. But, in his haste, the bottle slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor. The top popped off and the potion began to leak, as Malfoy walked away.  
  
"Harry!" Ron hissed, angrily. "You wrecked it…"  
  
"No," said Hermione, jumping into their conversation. "If you'd read the entire list of instructions, you would have realized that this is a very strong truth potion. While you two were making it, I read the directions." The potion was now bubbling and frothing on the floor, sending up pink, hazy fog that was invisible to all but them. The fog roiled around everyone, while Hermione said, "You made too much. I saw you putting way too much of hummingbird essence in and I'm assuming there's uneven amounts of everything else as well. Do you know what the final instructions and warnings were?"  
  
Harry and Ron nodded sheepishly.  
  
"And I quote, 'Do not overdose anyone.' 'The fog created will affect all but the ones who were in first contact with it, before the bottling.' That means it won't affect us three. And thank goodness, because I don't want to be singing all my secrets for everyone to hear."  
  
Harry asked, "How long does it take to wear off?"  
  
"Oh, I think about twenty-four hours. It's only going to last until about 8:00 tomorrow night. And since Malfoy got hit first, I think, he's the first we'll see the effects on." She grimaced. "Oh, how fun this is going to be…"  
  
Back with Draco and his cronies…  
  
Draco was humming as he walked out of the Great Hall. All of the sudden, he bumped into Harry and his friends.  
  
"Oh, it's you, come to insult me again, Granger? You have a major problem." he said nastily, then gasped as he started to sing, apparently having no control over his vocal chords.  
  
"Hey, Hermione, what's your problem?  
  
I see you try to hurt me bad,  
  
Don't know what you're up against.  
  
Maybe you should reconsider,  
  
Come up with another plan.  
  
'Cause you know I'm not that kind of guy  
  
That'll lay down and let you come first  
  
You can push me out the window,  
  
I'll just get back up.  
  
You can run me over with your 18-wheeler truck,  
  
And I won't give a f***.  
  
You can hang me like a slave,  
  
I'll go underground  
  
You can run over me with you 18-wheeler truck,  
  
But you can keep me down, no, no,"  
  
At first Hermione looked shocked, but then she, Ron, Harry, and probably the rest of the school doubled up with laughter as Malfoy ran down the hall with his hand clamped over his mouth.  
  
Song credits go to Pink: '18 Wheeler' 


	4. Youth of the Nation

A/N: I can just imagine what it would be like having Draco Malfoy sing that. Ha… Hey, if any of you have ideas of what else I can have Harry and Ron do to cause instantaneous hilarity, please tell me in a review, and I'll do it. Also, if you have any songs you'd like to put in, please tell me that, too.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, neither do you, (unless you're J.K. Rowling!) all I own is four books, a movie poster, and my own HP web site! Please visit it at http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/harrypotter7  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Harry was still laughing about Malfoy's singing as him and Ron climbed into their beds in the dorm. Ron, Seamus, Neville, and Dean all shared this infectious hilarity, all of them laughing their heads off.  
  
"The Draco Malfoy Singing Sensation," said Neville. He trailed off as he started to laugh again.  
  
In the girls' dormitories…  
  
"Oh, my, did you see that Draco Malfoy?" giggled Lavender. Lavender, Hermione, and Parvati had just gotten back from brushing their teeth, and were now discussing (as girls do) Malfoy's abrupt singing in their dorm.  
  
Even though Hermione disapproved of the potion Ron and Harry had made, she still had to admit that this time, the results were pretty funny.  
  
Parvati smashed her face into her pillow to silence her laughter. It didn't work. Raising her head up again, she squealed,  
  
"Malfoy is such a jerk! He probably sung that just to get attention. But then again, we're all just kids; we all like attention. But he has like no friends, and no respect for himself. I wouldn't be surprised if he got in a broom accident one day,"  
  
"But he has to have a heart somewhere," Hermione said. "Maybe he's only nice to his parents." But then she looked surprised as Parvati and Lavender suddenly belted out,  
  
"Last day of the rest of his life,  
  
Wishes he would have known 'cause he didn't kiss his mama goodbye,  
  
Didn't tell her how much he loved her, how much he cared,  
  
Or thanked his pops for all the talks and all the wisdom he shared."  
  
Lavender: "Unaware, he just did what he always do,  
  
Everyday the same routine before he flies off to school,"  
  
Parvati: "But who knew this day wasn't like the rest,  
  
Instead of takin' a test,  
  
He took a curse to the chest."  
  
Then the girls stopped singing.  
  
"My," said Hermione weakly, "That was strange."  
  
***  
  
In the Great Hall at breakfast the next morning, just before Harry, Ron, and Hermione head off to Transfiguration.  
  
All over the Great Hall students were exclaiming over the events of the night before. Apparently, a lot of the students had inhaled the fog, and most had sung at least one song. Harry, Ron, and Dean were talking about how Seamus and Neville should join a Muggle boy band. Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati were talking about how they should form a Hogwarts choir.  
  
How long until this potion wears off?  
  
Song credits: P.O.D. "Youth of the Nation"  
  
La la la, please review, thank ye kindly. 


	5. Aww, look at Ron blush

Disclaimer: I love Harry Potter, man! I know this is the worlds' most un- funny humorous fic, but y'all just gonna hafta deal. (Hah!) Unfortunately, I don't own Harry Potter. (I would like to own Oliver Wood and the Weasley twins, however. Hehehe.)  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Transfiguration with the Slytherins," grumbled Ron as the trio walked into McGonagall's class. "When is this charm going to wear off, again, Hermione?"  
  
"Oh, around suppertime tonight." she answered, head buried in a book.  
  
"Look here, it's the triple-uglies," said Malfoy nastily from behind Harry.  
  
"Nice insult," said Harry, turning around. "Did you come up with it all by yourself?" he said, plastering a fake smile on his face and whipping back around to talk to his friends. Then the Professor swept in and the class started.  
  
"Gah," said Ron as he poked at his porcupine with his wand. "What are we supposed to be turning this thing into, again?"  
  
"A pincushion, you great dolt," snickered Hermione quietly. She had already transfigured hers and been given ten points for Gryffindor. Hermione sat quietly at their table, reading a book and watching Ron and Harry struggle with the transfiguration. What none of them saw was a girl looking at Ron from across the room. She had finished her transfiguration, too, and was reading a book. Although, it may have been difficult for her to read, as it was upside down. She was looking over the top of it with a dreamy gaze at Ron Weasley. (Who wasn't very gangly anymore. During the summer before their fifth year, he had grown, and was, by American terms, pretty hot. Then again, so was Harry. He was, also in American terms, kind of a [Quidditch] jock.)  
  
At the bell, the students gathered their things and started the usual rush to the door. Ron, Harry, and the 'mysterious' girl were the last to leave, even after the teacher. (Harry had to clean up a bottle of ink he'd spilled after writing down the homework assignment.) As Hermione, Ron and Harry walked out of the room, Ron said,  
  
"Oy! I left my bag. I'll meet you guys out there in a minute." As they nodded and left, Ron grabbed his book from under his chair, then looked up into the face of Lavender Brown. His face got red as she started to sing in a strong soprano voice:  
  
"I love you, always forever  
  
Near and far, closer together  
  
Everywhere, I will be with you  
  
Everything, I will do for you…"  
  
Lavender abruptly stopped singing at that point and, blushing furiously, ran out the door. Ron shook his head and followed her to meet his friends, his face as red as his hair. As he came out, Harry looked at his watch while they headed for their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. "It's only ten o' clock. Nothing happened during Transfiguration, though. Maybe the spell is wearing off early."  
  
Ron grimaced and looked at the retreating figure of Lavender Brown. "Um, Harry, I don't really think so…"  
  
A/N: I don't remember who sang that song or what it's called. Well, R&R! 


	6. Confessions

Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter! Just kidding… I would like to… ha  
  
Chapter 6  
  
As Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts, they had no idea they were being followed. (And by a Slytherin, at that! The Slytherins' next class was all the way across Hogwarts!)  
  
Then Hermione's eyes got huge as Draco Malfoy popped out from the shadows and started to sing to her. (She should have been pleased, because, although he was kinda mean, he was very cute). So Draco sang:  
  
"Why don't you be my girlfriend  
  
I'll treat you good  
  
I know you hear your friends when they say you should  
  
'Cause if you were my girlfriend, I'd be your shining star  
  
The one to show you where you are  
  
Girl you should be my girlfriend."  
  
"Really?" asked Hermione, shocked.  
  
"No…" said Malfoy, looking sheepish and embarrassed. "What makes you think that?"  
  
"The whole singing thing, maybe?" Harry cut in.  
  
"Plus the whole part with grabbing her hand in the middle of it?" Ron pointed out. Malfoy turned sharply and ran down the hallway.  
  
"That was slightly strange, don't you think?" joked Hermione as they walked in the door of their class and greeted their teacher, Professor O'Brien.  
  
"I wish someone would sing to ME," said Harry grumpily as he settled into his seat.  
  
Nothing really happened singing-truth wise during their class, except for Neville singing something slightly raunchy to Parvati, which caused their twenty-one-year-old teacher to double over with laughter. (Then she took ten points from Gryffindor.)  
  
Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus were laughing at Neville while they walked back to the Gryffindor Tower. Hermione lagged behind with her friends Lavender and Parvati. They were teasing poor Parvati, but she ignored them (nicely).  
  
The girls 'freshened up' in one of the bathrooms while the boys grabbed extra books for their next class (which was Herbology) after lunch. They passed Ginny in the hall and she started to walk with them. (None of them cared, of course. Ginny was pretty popular.) However, her face blushed as red as her trademark Weasley hair when she tapped Harry on the shoulder, then started to sing to him.  
  
"I want it all,  
  
Or nothing at all  
  
There's nowhere left to fall  
  
When you reach the bottom it's now  
  
Or never  
  
Is it all,  
  
Or are we just friends?  
  
Is this how it ends…?"  
  
Song Credits: *NSYNC- "Girlfriend" and O-Town- "All or Nothing" plz R&R 


	7. De de de

Disclaimer: Oh, who cares…  
  
A/N: Hehe, I liked that last chapter. Review, people!  
  
Chapter 7  
  
Harry's mouth dropped, and he flushed red as Ron, always the overprotective older brother, tried to hush Ginny up. Ginny scuttled behind Hermione, hiding from Harry.  
  
"Blimey, I'm starved," Seamus interrupted loudly as the group entered the Great Hall and sat down. Dumbledore stood up at the High Table and said,  
  
"We've had some very odd occurrences at this school the past few hours. I want to tell all of you not to worry; the effects of whatever it is will wear off at dinner tonight. Until then, do not try anything to clamp your vocal chords. Thank you." He sat down and clapped his hands. The golden dishes were magically filled with food, and everyone started to eat.  
  
"I hope no one starts to sing during lunch," muttered Neville. "They would spray food everywhere!"  
  
Dean, Seamus, Ron, and Harry doubled up with laughter. Neville had actually made a joke!  
  
Then Lavender whispered to Ron, "I don't like you anymore. You're nice, and all, but Seamus asked me to be his girlfriend."  
  
Ron was relieved. Very relieved. He did like Hermione, and plus Seamus had been blabbering on incessantly about Lavender lately, and Ron was happy for the guy.  
  
"Ron? What's our next class again, I forgot," Harry asked sheepishly.  
  
"Herbology," said Hermione from across the table.  
  
***  
  
As the group was walking to their class, they didn't see Draco Malfoy singing to one of the Slytherin girls (complete with a guitar he had summoned from somewhere).  
  
"I know it's hard for you  
  
To understand what I'm going through  
  
But now I sit here to remind myself…  
  
You're always dressed to kill,  
  
And you feel like you owe it to the world,  
  
But you owe it to yourself.  
  
And you're, you're not here."  
  
Malfoy was doing all those American Muggle jumps with his guitar (like Sum41), and impressing all the girls who walked by (they were catcalling).  
  
Across the Hogwarts campus, Hermione heard the screams, and wondered about what they were.  
  
"Ron? Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"Oh, never mind."  
  
Song credits: "Dressed to Kill" by New Found Glory.  
  
That was terrible, I know, but please review? 


	8. Last singy chapter then New Spell!

Chapter 8  
  
A/N: Crap. I was gonna do another NFG song this chapter, but I just did one. Blah.  
  
As everyone settled into their chairs for Herbology (which the Gryffindors had with the Hufflepuffs) Harry glanced around quickly to make sure no one was going to start singing. Thankfully, the class progressed normally.  
  
"Maybe the potion's wearing off," Ron muttered to Hermione as they were collecting pus from their trapotuber (The adult form of the bubotuber).  
  
"It shouldn't be yet, but if it is now, I'm extremely glad," she replied.  
  
The class continued without anything out of the ordinary occurring, much to the relief of Harry, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Only one class left before dinner tonight," said Harry happily. "What is it, again?"  
  
"You two have Divination. I have Arithmancy," said Hermione. As they walked into the school and approached the Arithmancy room, Hermione waved and Harry and Ron continued grouchily to Divination.  
  
Ron suddenly remembered what Ginny had done during lunch and doubled up with laughter. "Blimey, Harry, I never knew she like you that much!"  
  
"Sod off, Ron!" said Harry, laughing a little. "It's not THAT funny! Haven't you had someone sing to you yet?"  
  
"Um, no…" said Ron.  
  
They passed Cho Chang in the hallway on their way to Divination. She greeted them, the stopped abruptly as Harry started singing.  
  
"I don't wanna waste my time,  
  
Become a casualty of society.  
  
Don't wanna waste my time,  
  
Become a victim of your conformity  
  
And back down."  
  
Cho walked away extremely quickly.  
  
"Ron! Why did I sing? The stupid potion wasn't supposed to affect us!" said Harry, blushing purple. Suddenly he and Ron heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere, a girl's voice, laughing.  
  
"Um… oops! I am the All Powerful Author, and that was a typo… ha ha ha, you just have to deal now, Harry."  
  
"Hey! You can't just do that!"  
  
"Yes, I can."  
  
"No, you can't."  
  
"Yes, I can."  
  
"No, you can't."  
  
"YES, I CAN!" Harry's hair suddenly changed to booger-green, then back to black. "HA!"  
  
"Ok, ok!" as Harry spoke the voice shut up and left. But they still heard the laughter…  
  
"Whoa, trippy," said Ron. "Hey! Since when do I say 'trippy'?"  
  
"Oops!" called the author.  
  
Harry and Ron sighed loudly as they headed up the ladder to their Divination class.  
  
Song credits: "Fat Lip", by Sum 41. 


	9. Crazy Candy Powder

****

Chapter 9 

A/N: WHOA. I am SO friggering sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. I'm so retarded. Anyway, it's FINALLY time for a new joke spell.  
  
"I hate Divination," Ron groaned. He and Harry had just completed another boring class with Professor Trelawney, and were loaded down with homework to do. 

"So do I. I wish I could pull a Hermione and just walk out," said Harry. 

"Let's go back to Gryffindor Tower before we go up to dinner. I need to drop my books off." Ron stifled a laugh with his shirtsleeve. "I think we should try out another one of those spells from the joke book Hermione picked up." Harry nodded in agreement. 

"Pig snout," he said when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. He and Ron climbed through the portrait hole to find Hermione sitting down in a chair hiding something from their view. 

"What you got there, Herm?" Ron asked. 

"Oh, I suppose I'll show you," she moved her hand and they saw a tableful of empty soda bottles in front of her. 

"Ooh, pop," said Harry and reached for a bottle. Hermione batted his hand away. 

"Don't drink those! I got the Canary Cream recipe from Fred and George and I changed it a little. This is Crazy Candy Powder in those soda bottles, mixed into pumpkin juice," she said. 

"Nothing out of the book?" Ron asked dejectedly. 

"This is better, Ron." Hermione grinned devilishly, betraying her 'goody- goody' aura. "This makes whoever eats the chocolate act very strange for a few hours. I made Fred take just a small sip out of a glass with some in it and he followed George around and acted like a giraffe for a half hour." 

"All for the sake of pranking!" said Fred, clambering in the portrait hole with George close behind. George ran up to Hermione and bowed with a flourish. "Being in our seventh year, and also being master pranksters, we had a lot of practice with developing jokes. But your formula is great!" 

Harry, looking excited, said, "But how are we going to give this to whoever we want to act crazy?" 

"Easy. We always have pumpkin juice at dinner. Just pour some of the doctored-up pumpkin juice into a gobletful of the normal stuff," said Fred. Harry and Ron also saw a few spoons and bowls on the table. Harry reasoned that they could also spoon the powder into drinks, too. 

"You've got to be careful with this though," Hermione said, sounding more like her old self. "My calculations say that if you add too much powder, the person who gets the drink won't be able to stop laughing for a week." 

"Aye, Captain," chorused all four boys. Then they all grinned sneakily at each other and rubbed their hands together in glee as they picked up the bottles and stuck them in the pockets of their robes. As they headed out to the Great Hall for dinner, the thought that stuck out most in all of their minds was: "Man, is this going to be FUN!"


	10. wowzers, amaziness

****

Chapter 10  
A/N: I know that past chapter was gay. I mean, jeez. Nothing happened! This chapter should be funny, or you can beat me.  
  
Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione settled themselves at the Gryffindor Table. There were still 5 minutes until everyone else came in, and they had already had Hermione bewitch some of the bottles to read "Mrs. Cookies' Pumpkin Juice!" Then these bottles were placed with two on each House table. There was one bottle on the Gryffindor table as well. 

Hermione started to lecture them as everyone else began to trickle in. She said quickly, "The powder won't go into effect for an hour. It builds up in strength and lasts for 24 hours, so the peak of the craziness will be sometime during morning classes and lunch tomorrow. All right?" The four boys nodded. Hermione grinned wickedly. "Well, here come our victims!" 

As Dumbledore made the evening announcements and the platters and goblets in front of the children filled with food and drink, the five teens who had placed the doctored-up pumpkin juice kept glancing around. The four boys, being boys, were shoving food into their mouths as well as looking around. Hermione just was drinking absentmindedly from the bottle of pumpkin juice next to her. 

"Bottle of pumpkin juice? I was drinking water!" she asked herself. "Oh, no." she had taken several sips from a bottle of spiked pumpkin juice. 

As Hermione set the bottle down and grimaced, Parvati grabbed the bottle and said to her friend Lavender, "Bloody hell! This is some NICE pumpkin juice for once!" she then poured herself and Lavender another gobletful, then told Neville, Dean, and Seamus that they should try it too. 

At the other house tables, more of the same was going on. Malfoy was guzzling his second goblet of the juice. Some of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw kids were drinking it down too. Next to Hermione, Fred and George, smirking, had poured goblets of it for their friends Lee Jordan, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell. 

It seemed that Hermione had also bewitched the bottles to refill themselves. She wasn't sure whether that the powder would be as potent, so she added a few spoonfuls to the bottle and some people's goblets when no one was paying attention to her. "Oh, no." she muttered again. On a dare from Fred, Harry had eaten some of the Crazy Candy Powder plain and was now giggling insanely. Luckily, the dessert part of dinner was finally over and they could go back to their common room. 

As soon as the portrait hole swung open, three of the five pranksters collapsed into chairs. "Oh my god, that was bloody funny to see them all drinking that stuff down," gasped Ron, laughing his head off. Harry wasn't giggling anymore, he was groaning about having a stomachache. 

"Well, I TOLD you not to eat it plain. But did you listen? NO!" groused Hermione. 

"You never told us that, Herm," said Ron, laughing. By this statement, the rest of their House had stumbled into the common room. Most of them complained about being sleepy and went straight up to their dorms. Fred, George, and Ginny were the last through the portrait hole, George carrying Ginny who was laughing helplessly. 

"Ah, Harry, hullo!" she shrieked excitedly. Although Ginny was a pretty 14- year-old, she looked about ten at the moment because she was so excited. "I'm so happy to see you!" she jumped out of George's grasp and jumped onto Harry's lap. 

"What the-" Harry pretended to be shocked although he liked having Ginny on his lap- not that he'd tell anyone.


	11. jinkies! what went wrong?

****

Chapter 11 

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Yes, I am aware that I am a crackhead because of this, for you few who enjoyed my story here. Well then, moving along.  
  
As the members of Gryffindor House shuffled into breakfast the next morning, many of them complained of headaches. But they didn't seem to be doing anything, well, crazy. This puzzled Hermione, resident know-it-all. The way she had designed the powder to work, some kids should have been acting crazy already. 

"Herm? Why isn't the powder working?" Ron asked Hermione. He was one of the many students who had drunk the spiked pumpkin juice, but one of the five who knew what was in it. Unfortunately, all five of them had drunk SOMETHING with the powder added. 

"I think it's going to be a delayed reaction!" said George, imitating Hermione's high-pitched voice- even though she didn't have a high-pitched voice. 

"Yes, I do believe you're correct, dear twin," said Fred. They all had basically finished their breakfast of eggs and kippers by then, and were about to go to their first classes of the day- Harry and Ron at Divination, Hermione at Arithmancy, and Fred and George in Transfiguration. But Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands, silencing the entire hall. 

"Students and faculty, I would like to make an announcement," and hundreds of faces stared at him expectantly, most of the Slytherins aside. "This day, the twentieth of September, marks the date that many of you students might not know about. On this day, one hundred and twenty-five years ago, a very foolish wizard did so many spells that went so badly wrong that he turned the entire wizarding community into Muggles for several hours! All of their magic was pulled out of them and ended up floating invisibly in the air," Harry heard Malfoy snicker at this. "So on this day we are celebrating Slow Down Magic Day- a day to remember to always be careful with your spells. Also remember that, since this is an important date, this is the first time Hogwarts is recognising it. Watch out for all the magic floating around today!" Dumbledore added with a wink to Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. "That said, have a wonderful school day!" 

"Slow Down Magic Day," Hermione murmured as the group walked with her to drop her off at her Arithmancy class. "That's why the powder isn't working yet. The air is so potent today with magic being sucked off everything the powder isn't getting a chance to circulate correctly. I believe this is why it isn't working." 

"Er, right, Hermione," said Harry with a confused, lopsided grin. Lopsided because he was staring at Hermione and all of the sudden her prim outfit for school that day was transformed into a hoochie Britney Spears catholic- schoolgirl look. 

"Whoa!" all of the guy's eyes in the hallway surrounding the group bugged out at the sight of Miss Hermione Granger, know-it-all hoochie knockout (for the time, which lasted about five seconds, then she was transformed back into her normal self.) 

"What? What is everyone staring at?" Hermione asked frantically. "Did I drop a book?" Harry laughed, and laughed, and continued laughing until they reached the Arithmancy room. 

As the four remaining pranksters left on their way to their classes and Hermione walked in the door to her class, Harry's hair turned pink and Fred grew a large, puffy beard. 

"Aha!" shouted Hermione as she turned back around. She quickly whispered to Fred, Harry, Ron and George, "The effect of all the magic in the air today changed the content of the powder in everyone's body. It pulled the powder out onto the skin-" she pulled up the sleeve of her robe and showed the boys a faint dusting of the clear powder- "but you can't get rid of it. So the appearance changes will be happening basically all day, and there may be some personality changes involved. Oh!" she cried, looking at a grandfather clock against the wall. "You boys had better run! Classes start in two minutes!" and the boys charged through the school to their classes, not even noticing Draco Malfoy's neon green hair and multiple piercings as they ran past him down a stairway.


	12. ebonic ghettospeak

A/N: Ahh, update. Cool. 

****

Chapter 12 

"Geroff." Ron grunted as Harry tried to shake him awake. 

"Ron. Ron. It's time for lunch already. You've slept through all morning classes. You missed Sprout rapping. Although, I would have wanted to miss that," he added as an afterthought. 

As Harry half-dragged Ron down to the Great Hall for lunch, they met up with Neville, Dean, and Seamus on the way. 

"What up, son?" asked Neville. He snapped his fingers and he was dressed like a thug. Seamus nearly fell down laughing, and as Snape passed them in the hall, he shouted,

"Longbottom! There is to be no -ghettoness- in this school! Ten points from Gryffindor!" but Snape quickly quieted down when his robes were changed into EXTREMELY baggy pants and a dark hoody. He tripped over the hem of his pants then whipped out his wand and changed himself back into robes. He coughed greasily and smoothed down his oily hair as he continued along as if nothing had happened. 

Neville had returned to normalcy by the time the reached their house table. By the time they got there, Hermione was sitting calmly next to the twins wearing high tube socks, Converse All-Stars, a plaid mini, a blink-182 tee shirt, and a black tie. 

"Hey, bitch! What's shakin'?" Hermione asked, then gasped in shock as she realized she had just cursed. She waved her wand over her body, returning her clothing to robes. 

"It was ONE bad word, Hermione. Don't spaz out," said George from next to her. "You could have said something even WORSE such as 'Shit piss fuck cunt cocksucker motherfucker tits fart terd and twat' from the band which tee shirt you were wearing not long ago." 

Hermione bit her lip. "Oh." She was spared from speaking anymore with the arrival of lunch, which was a form of creamed chicken soup. 

Suddenly a loud voice was heard from across the Great Hall. Someone was rapping. Or trying to. "Soup! Soup! Chicken in da coop! No soup for you, No sopa por tu, no sex for you, you sleep on the couch! With the bugs and the rugs with the- ouch!" The person sat down as one of their companions poked them with a fork. 

Dumbledore stood up and said with a twinkle in his eye, "And with that, will you all head to your afternoon classes." 

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years had Double Potions with the Slytherins. Fred and George waved at them as they walked off with Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Lee to DADA with the Hufflepuffs. "So what craziness have you witnessed so far today?" asked Hermione as they walked down to the dungeons. Everyone had already separated into his or her little 'groups' as the walked. "During Arithmancy, a seventh year tried to kiss me. It was rather disgusting." she finished. 

At that moment, someone bumped into Parvati and she yelled, "Move, bitch! Get out da way! Get out da way, bitch, get out da way!" 

Harry chuckled to himself. His chuckle gradually increased to a full-scale laugh and he collapsed on the ground. While he wasn't looking, Ron suddenly became very shy and kissed Hermione on the cheek. 

"What did I just do?" asked Ron. 

"Hmm. I don't know. Could it be... you kissed me?" Hermione said. She was silently thinking, "COOL COOL COOL!!!!!" 

"I guess so," said Ron, blushing tomato red. 

Harry stopped laughing then, but he hadn't heard any of his best friends' conversation. He didn't even notice the awkward silence that followed as they walked in to Potions. Although, the ENTIRE CLASS noticed their transvestite teacher. 

Harry whispered to Hermione, "When did you say this would wear off?" "Well, with all the magic in the air today, it's hard to say when."


	13. matchmaking and electric guitars

A/N: Whoa, there was some Ron/Hermione action in that chap, hmm? Anyway, sorry about the long wait for chapter 13. My computer was in the shop because there was something wrong with the CPU. But I'm back now! Also, I'm sorry that in all of my chapters there aren't paragraphs. I don't write that way, really. But my Word program won't really support HTML, and I can't make any paragraphs or make things bold or underlined or anything and it sucks. But anyway… I'm gonna try to start a new story, and I might need a beta reader… email me if you want to help! Okay, on with the story.

**Chapter 13**

Hogwarts had been buzzing all day with the students' questions. What exactly was going on in the school, anyway? And who was behind it? 

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George knew. The newest prank they had all made was wreaking havoc on the entire school. As the group met in the hallway after their class (it was right before dinner) they all went to the Gryffindor common room to see what was going on in their House. 

Hermione gasped when she pushed open the portrait and walked into the common room. 

"What is it, 'Mione?" asked Ron anxiously as he halted quickly behind her, making Harry, Fred and George bump into his back. The four boys tried to look around the common room, hearing the sound of loud punk music.

"Oh god, I think we just walked into an American public high school!" Hermione gestured at the common room. Parvati and Dean were making out on one of the couches, wearing extremely preppy clothes. Neville and Seamus were jamming with electric guitars on top of one of the tables. Lavender, Ginny, and a few female Gryffindor sixth and seventh years were watching appreciatively. 

"Okay, my beautiful know-it-all friend, when is the potion going to wear off?" asked Ron frantically. 

"Er… I'm really not sure. It should have been decreasing in effect by now, but I think some people got so heavily dosed with it that it might not wear off for several more hours! Oh, I've got to go to the library and try to research this!" Hermione ran out of the common room, with Harry yelling after her,

"Dinner is in fifteen minutes!" as the portrait slammed shut. 

"Hmm. That's Hermione all right. When in doubt, go to the library! She's such a know-it-all! Now we have to deal with this on our own until she gets back." Ron said grumpily.

"Oh, shut your gob. You know you like her." Fred grinned, then whispered in an undertone to George, "Should we play matchmaker sometime today or tomorrow?"

His twin smiled and laughed. "Sounds good." 

"What sounds good?" asked Ron. 

"Dinner. But it's not for ten minutes," said George. He was about to speak again when he was interrupted by a loud screech. An owl flew in and nipped Harry's ear. He took the note the owl held in her talons and gave her a bit of a cookie he found in his robe pocket, and she flew off again. 

"What's in the note, Harry?" asked his friends.

"Let me open it and see…" he said, and began reading:

" 'Potter-

I'm going to get you. No matter what you do, where you go, I'm going to get you.' "

"That's wonderful," said Ron sarcastically. "Not only do we have to deal with this Crazy Candy Powder, now we have to deal with some nutter who's after Harry."

"Ron, you're such a prat," said his brothers in unison. 

George began, "It's probably-"

"Only a joke," finished Fred. 

*In the library*

"Hmm…" Hermione was talking to herself as she set her stack of books on the counter for Madam Pince to check out. 

"Due in two weeks, of course," said Madam Pince as she handed the books back to Hermione. She took them and shot out of the library. 

Hermione stumbled up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and said the password. The portrait swung open and Hermione ran into the common room. She dropped her books on the table where her friends sat, minus Fred and George. 

"Wow, are all of those about the problem we're having with this Crazy Candy Powder?" asked Harry.

"Well, no. I couldn't find any books on that subject. This is all reading for me. But I think I've figured out what we need to do to end all this… well, all this craziness!" she replied.

"What is it?" asked Ron, inching closer to Hermione. 

"By the way, where are the twins?" she asked him. 

"Oh, they went up to their dorm to get something. I don't know what." 

"All right. Well, I figure that the powder should wear off sometime during dinner or afterwards. If it doesn't wear off on its own, we'll have to come up with something to counter it, or create another spell." Hermione was concentrating on what she was doing so much that she didn't notice when Fred and George crept back down their dormitory stairs until they popped up in front of her. 

"Fred! George! You gave me a fright!" she said, startled. Fred handed her a can. "Root beer? Oh, thank you! This is my favourite soda!" George gave Harry and Ron cans of soda as well. However, what Fred and George had done was put a love potion into Hermione and Ron's cans of pop, which would make them both realize that they did like each other once the potion went into effect. Harry's can of pop was normal, though. 

The grandfather clock in the common room struck six and all the Gryffindors got up to leave for dinner. Every Gryffindor was back to their normal, robed self. When the last person left the common room, no one noticed the small creature following after them…


	14. Making Plans and Hot Punk Bands

A/N: Hmm, cliffie back there. What fun. Anyway, it's time for a new chapter of my boo-tiful tale… 

****

Chapter 14

Harry checked his watch impatiently. It was about seven-thirty and dessert was almost over with. Dumbledore would be making his announcements sometime soon. Harry poked at his pie with his fork, bored.

Next to him, George and Fred were chatting with some of their seventh-year friends. Alicia Spinnet was flirting mercilessly with George but he seemed to like it quite a bit. Fred was too preoccupied with Angelina Johnson, who was practically sitting in his lap, to care about what was going on around him. (Which really wasn't much.)

All noise and movement in the Great Hall stopped as Professor Dumbledore stood up and tapped his spoon on his glass. "Quiet down, students, I have a few announcements to make."

The golden plates cleared when Dumbledore began to speak. Several students sat straighter and looked up at the High Table attentively as Dumbledore started to talk again. "My first announcement is to say that Quidditch season officially starts next Monday, November 1st. For those of you that don't know, that's in two days. Captains, reserve your spots on the practice field with your Heads of Houses." He cleared his throat. "The second announcement I have is that tomorrow evening Hogwarts will be having a Halloween Ball for students fourth year and up after the usual feast. The Halloween Ball will be held from eight-o-clock to midnight in the Great Hall. This is an excellent time to get to know people from other Houses."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's jaws dropped. After all that had been going on, they had completely forgotten about Halloween. Looking around the Gryffindor Table, Hermione noticed from the looks on some of their faces that several other students had forgotten as well. She turned her face back up to Dumbledore at the High Table as he said,

"Those are all the announcements for this evening. You may all head back to your houses, and remember that tomorrow you have no classes. However, I would like to meet with the prefects of each house and the Head Boy and Girl to discuss some things with you before you leave."

The Great Hall began to clear as everyone headed back to their houses. Harry and Ron started to walk back to Gryffindor Tower, but stopped when they saw Hermione heading up to the High Table. 

"Where're you going, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Don't you remember? I'm a prefect!" she said haughtily with a nasty grin. She stopped in her tracks and made a complete turn to face her friends. Hermione's face then brightened up with a smile that Ron found entrancing. "I'll be back to the common room in about ten minutes!" Hermione spun on her heel and went to join the rest of the prefects and Heads at the High Table. 

Harry shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, and he and Ron continued their walk to Gryffindor Tower, not noticing the small, shadowy figure following them again. 

*At the High Table*

"What did you need us for, Professor?" asked a girl named Lisa, a prefect from Ravenclaw. 

"Well, the teachers and I have done a lot of the planning already for the ball tomorrow. We decided on decorations, and we decided on refreshments. But we also decided that we needed some student input. Do any of you have any ideas that you think would make the ball more interesting?" asked Dumbledore.

"Do you think we could play some American Muggle music?" asked dark-haired Devin Lynch, the Gryffindor Head Boy. He tugged uncomfortably on his school uniform as he spoke.

Professor Dumbledore closed his eyes as he considered Devin's request. "Yes, that sounds fine. What did you have in mind?" 

"Maybe some blink-182, or New Found Glory, stuff like that. Maybe we could even have one of those bands play here!" Devin's foot scuffed the floor in his excitement. "Or Britney Spears!" he shook his head and grimaced. "Whoa, where did _that _come from?"

"Mr. Lynch, if you'd like to help me arrange the music, I'm sure we can play whatever the students would like," said Dumbledore. "We may even be able to get the boys from New Found Glory to play here- they attended school here for several years before they moved to California to start their band. They would probably enjoy playing here. I knew Jordan, Cyrus, Ian, Chad and Steven well. Almost like the Weasley twins- very mischievous, they were. I'll contact them tonight- it's only, oh, noon or so where they are." 

Devin practically fell on the floor. "Wow," he said, dumbstruck.

"What if we have special lighting or something so it looks like we're on another planet?" asked another prefect. 

"That sounds like a good idea. I can arrange that as well," said Dumbledore.

Hermione then spoke up quickly, worried that she wouldn't be able to speak otherwise. As she began to share her idea, no one heard the crash of a suit of armor falling over and Draco Malfoy skidding into the Great Hall. He blushed to the roots of his peroxidized hair, looked down at the blocks of ice on his feet and ran as fast as he could away from the scene.

"Do you think we could wear costumes instead of robes? I mean, students who want to wear their robes could, but it IS Halloween. We could have a costume contest, too…?" she left her statement unfinished. 

"That sounds wonderful, Miss Granger. I can make all the announcements at breakfast tomorrow for the ball. Devin, if the boys from America will be able to come, they'll be here in the morning- do you think you could help me greet them?" 

"Sure, Professor," said Lynch.

"All right. Well, you all are dismissed. Have a good night's rest, and remember, no classes tomorrow," said Dumbledore, and left.

"The effects of the powder must have worn off," said Hermione to herself as she walked with Devin up to Gryffindor Tower. "Nothing really crazy happened tonight."

"What did you say?" Devin asked.

"Nothing," she squeaked and said the password. She slipped past the Fat Lady and entered the common room. 

"Well, g'night," grumbled Devin and he walked up to his dorm.

"Well, what did Dumbledore have to say?" asked Harry. "And who was that bloke you walked in with?" 

"The ball is going to be a costume ball. There's a costume contest, and Professor Dumbledore is going to have the American band New Found Glory come and play, too," Hermione said unexcitedly, whipping her hair into a quick ponytail.

"New Found Glory? Are you mad? That's the best band EVER!" said Harry, positively writhing with excitement. 

"Lovely. I'm heading up to bed- I'm tired. I'll see you all at breakfast in the morning," she said.

"She's so pretty…" Ron said, and fell on the floor. 

"Is Mr. Wheezy all right?" squeaked a shadow. 

"Dobby?" asked Harry. 

A/N: lol, that was retarded at the end, but I don't care. I cranked out a niiiiiice long chappie for you- be happy!


	15. baggy pants and a crazy dance

****

A/N: Okay, I'm really sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I've just been really busy with school, and I have 2-a-day swim practices, but I'll try to make this chapter as long as I can. (AND I've been suffering from writer's block!)

Disclaimer: heh, I don't own it. Duh, otherwise I'd be rich and not writing these fanfics! Ha. 

All right, well here's chapter 15.

****

Chapter 15

Harry snapped his head around to greet the house elf, who was looking very nervous in a kilt, a T-shirt, and a tea cozy. Ron scrambled up from his spot on the floor and crashed into a chair. 

"Dobby? What are you doing in here?" asked Harry, bewildered. Dobby rarely came up to Gryffindor Tower to visit them anymore because of his duties in the kitchen. And when he did come to visit, it was when he had something to say.

"Dobby come to see Harry Potter because he is in danger!" squeaked Dobby.

Harry was confused about Dobby's pronoun usage. "Who's in danger, Dobby? You or me?"

Ron looked from Harry to Dobby, as puzzled as Harry. He didn't look worried, however. 

"You, sir!" said Dobby. "I must be going now, sirs, but be careful, Harry Potter!" and he disappeared with a sharp crack. (House-elves have magic of their own, you know.)

"It's probably Malfoy who's after you, Harry," said Ron as the pair began to ascend the stairs to their dormitory. 

Harry grunted in an annoyed kind of way. "Malfoy's a nutter, so you're probably right. We can find out more tomorrow."

After changing into their pajamas, the two boys climbed into their beds. Dean, Seamus, and Neville were already sound asleep when they came in, and therefore asked no questions about their whereabouts.

"I still can't believe you haven't heard of New Found Glory, Ron. They're a wizarding band AND a Muggle band, they're awesome!" Harry mumbled as he smashed his face into his pillow.

Ron grunted his reply. "I've probably heard them on the WWN… I just don't remember. Now, it's quiet time, sod off and let me sleep." Ron tugged the curtains around his four-poster.

Harry, laughing, closed the curtains around his own and waited for sleep.

Maybe the Crazy Candy Powder had worn off…

***

Draco Malfoy woke up Halloween morning on the floor of the Slytherin 5th-year boys' dorm. He looked at his watch, and it read 7:03 a.m. He groaned. There were no classes today, and he figured he might as well get dressed and go down to breakfast. The rest of the boys in Draco's dorm were still asleep, so he got off the floor (wondering how in the Abyss he'd gotten there), gathered his clothes and robes quietly, and snuck out of the room to the bathroom, tugging uncomfortably at his skimpy black-

"-DRESS!" Draco Malfoy shrieked as he looked into the mirror. He quickly quieted himself, not wanting anyone to come see what was the matter. He locked the bathroom door tightly.

"Makeup and a dress," he said to himself, disgusted. "I am wearing MAKEUP and a DRESS!" And indeed he was. Bright red lipstick topped off a face caked with powder and purple eyeshadow. A skintight and slinky black dress was set on his manly curves. (A/N: Ha, ha.) Draco looked in the mirror again and glared at his reflection. Then he mouthed several very naughty cuss words, stripped off the dress, and jumped into the shower, thinking all the while how painful it was going to be for the person who did this to him. After all, he did want revenge.

*Back in Gryffindor Tower*

Devin Lynch was up and running. Around his room, that is. (As Head Boy, he got his own room.) It was 7:10 in the morning, and he had to get ready to help Professor Dumbledore greet his favorite band. 

"Robes or Muggle clothes? Robes or Muggle clothes?" he asked himself frantically. There were no classes today, so he figured that his professors wouldn't mind if he wore some of his Muggle things from back home. It would be good to dress cool in front of New Found Glory, even if they were wizards.

Devin snapped out of his clothing dilemma thoughts to a knock on his closed door. Yanking a shirt on over his boxers, he opened the door to see his friend Hermione Granger standing there and tapping her foot impatiently.

"If that's what you're wearing to greet NFG, I'm going to kill you and disown you as a friend," she said. Devin looked at his boxers and shirt and then at her outfit. Hermione had obviously decided to wear Muggle clothes, with baggy rave pants and a New Found Glory concert tee. She noticed Devin looking at her outfit. "What? I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could wear Muggle clothes and greet NFG with you this morning. He said that it was fine with him, because I was a model student and he would love to have me help greet them. Ha."

Devin smiled. Hermione was such a geek. "Well, if you leave, I'll change," he said, motioning to the baggy pants and T-shirt he had finally picked out.

"Here, I brought you toast," his friend said. Devin took the toast, thanked Hermione, and told her to wait for him. She slammed his door in his face, giggling excitedly. "I'm GONNA MEET NEW FOUND GLORY!!!!!!"

Back up in the 5th-year dorm, Harry, Seamus, Ron, Neville, and Dean were awake and dressed in their robes. All the boys save Neville knew who New Found Glory was, and they were really excited.

"I wonder how long they're going to stay?" asked Dean.

"Well, through tonight, definitely, because they're playing for us at the Halloween Ball," said Harry. He tugged at his robes. "I wish we didn't have to wear our robes today. I feel like a geek in these."

"No one cares, Harry, they see you that way every day," said Ron. "Anyway, Hermione said that the Halloween Ball was a costume ball- you could wear 'cool' clothes then. I bet the blokes from NFG won't be wearing robes."

"I wish I knew who New Found Glory was," said Neville unhappily. "I'm missing out…" 

"Oy, if we were allowed to have Muggle CD players in Hogwarts, I'd play you some of their music!" said Seamus. "Well, you'll hear it tonight."

"Let's go down to the Great Hall to get some breakfast," said Dean. He checked his watch. "It's 7:15, and I'm so hungry, I could eat a hippogriff!"

And with that, the five boys tromped out of the dormitory room to go eat breakfast. As they walked down the halls of Hogwarts, excited voices could be heard from every corner. It seemed like the word that New Found Glory was coming had gotten around rather quickly.

They reached the Gryffindor Table and found that practically every single person was there already. Ron crashed down into a chair next to Hermione, who was reading a book. The rest of the boys took chairs as well and grabbed some breakfast. 

"Good morning, Hermione!" Ron said. He then took a double take as he looked at what she was wearing. "What are you WEARING?" 

"Oh, I'm greeting New Found Glory with Devin and Professor Dumbledore this morning, so I figured I should wear something appropriate."

"Devin?" Ron grimaced. "Isn't he that bloke that walked you back to Gryffindor Tower last night?"

"Yes. He's very nice. He asked me to the Halloween Ball this morning-" 

Ron's face got beet red. "WHAT?" he practically screamed.

"Well, if you'd let me finish, I was going to say that I said no," Hermione blushed. "Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to go to the main entrance now." Hermione got up. "Come on, Devin," she called, and the two left the Great Hall.

"Why didn't you ask her, you prat?" asked Harry. "You should have asked her to the bloody ball right then, she looked like she wanted to go with you, with the way she blushed-"

"Oh, shut up," said Ron.

*In the Entrance Hall*

"I'm going to meet New Found Glory…" Hermione said excitedly.

Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Yes you are, Miss Granger. And they should be arriving shortly- they already sent their equipment ahead of them," he said, pointing a long finger and what seemed to be a great big tangle of wires and instruments. 

"How are they getting here, Professor?" asked Devin. 

"Oh, when I spoke with Mr. Pundik (A/N: that's Jordan! The vocalist! He's hott! Heh, anyway…) he said that they would be arriving by broom. I'm not quite sure what time it is in America right now, but the boys might be tired…"

Hermione gasped. "They're here, they're here!" she pointed out the doors to five broomsticks that were already parked, and five boys walking up the entrance steps…

A/N: AUGH! I love NFG! We'll meet them next chapter…!


	16. pranks and an all around aww

A/N: Wowzies, I haven't updated in a really long time… sorry, guys. Oh, I guess I should tell you basically who's in NFG so you know. Jordan Pundik is the vocalist, Cyrus Bolooki plays drums, Ian Grushka plays bass, and Steve Klein and Chad Gilbert play guitar. Ok, we're all good now. 

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, don't own NFG (that would be their label, MCA, and also Drive-Thru records)

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Chapter 16

"Professor Dumbledore!" five boys (er… men, they're in their twenties!) chorused in unison. 

"Hello, Jordan, Cyrus, Ian, Chad, Steven," Professor Dumbledore said, shaking each of their hands warmly as he said their names. "How are you five doing?"

Chad, wearing jeans and a shirt that said 'I'm not good with names, so I'll just call you Asshole' said, "Well, we just finished a U.S. tour and went home to Florida-" (A/N: I know I said earlier that they started their band in Cali. I was wrong. Dammit.) "-Then we got your owl and decided we'd come up to play and visit our old school."

Ian spoke up then, adjusting his Hawaiian-print shirt that he was wearing over plaid pants. (Wow, he doesn't match. That must be where Dobby gets his fashion sense.) "We're glad you invited us to play here, Professor!"

"It was no problem, Ian. In fact, it wasn't my idea; it was the idea of our Gryffindor Head Boy, Devin Lynch. Oh! That reminds me. There are no classes for the students today, would you like to visit your old houses or have a bite of breakfast first?" asked Dumbledore. "I'm sure you might be hungry…" he said, blue eyes twinkling. Dumbledore looked at Devin and Hermione who were standing by the wall looking like they were quite out of place. 

"Oh! Boys, this is Miss Hermione Granger and this is Mr. Devin Lynch. Two very fine students, though I daresay they've had their own fair share of rule-breaking… moving on! They're going to help you get settled in today so you can play this evening at the Halloween Ball. You will be staying the night, I expect…?"

"That's right, Professor," said Cyrus. "Hey, Hermione, I like your shirt!" he said, laughingly, because it was one of his bands' concert shirts.

"Er… thanks?" Hermione replied nervously. "I like yours too!" Cyrus looked down at his black 'Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups' tee, then at his black jeans and red skate shoes. 

"Eh, needs more color!" he laughed. "But thank you!"

Devin didn't seem nervous at all, and immediately broke in with, "Professor, should we show them where they'll be staying for tonight?"

"Sure, Devin. Boys, are you going to leave your equipment here or move it into the Great Hall?" asked Dumbledore. "I have several duties I need to attend to, but I'm sure you can handle everything with Devin and Hermione here…" he gave everyone a wave, took out his wand, and transported himself out of the Entrance Hall.

"I don't wanna move it now…" whined Steve, pretending to be a little kid. He then shrugged his shoulders in his red DC skateboarding company t-shirt, took a few steps, tripped on his pants, and stopped whining. "What you think, Jordan?"

Jordan took his wand out of the pocket of his baggy jeans and said, "Why don't we do it the easy way? Um… Hermione, is there already a stage set up in the Great Hall?"

"I'm not sure… Maybe you guys should just take your things up to where you'll be staying, and then come down after breakfast and see, that way you won't be swarmed by teenaged girls and guys while you're in there," she replied, her nervousness gradually disappearing as she spoke. 

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Ian. Each band member grabbed a duffel bag out of the pile of equipment. "Where're we going now?"

"Well, what House were you five in?" asked Devin.

**At Gryffindor Tower**

Devin spoke the password and the Fat Lady's portrait swung open. But not before she squealed, "Is that New Found Glory?"

As they entered the common room, Chad dropped his duffel on the floor and said, "Well, everything looks pretty much the same. Even the Fat Lady's still here." 

"Yeah…" Cyrus' mouth was open as he looked around. 

"Okay, well, Professor Dumbledore figured that you would want to stay in a dorm, and there's an unused one up the stairs to your right, third door. There's five beds up there and that's where you'll sleep," said Hermione. "

"Devin, go show them." 

There were thumping noises as the band grabbed all their crap and followed Devin up the stairs. There were even more noises when they came back down and addressed Hermione who was standing there, tapping her foot.

"Can we go eat breakfast now?" asked Jordan.

"I'd take a pen, I bet people will want autographs," said Hermione. All five boys held up pens. "Well, I think you guys know the way, you can probably go now."

**Back in the Great Hall**

Back in the Great Hall, practically everyone was still sitting down, waiting for New Found Glory to come in. When they finally did, there was a lot of screaming, even from the Slytherins. Hermione and Devin slipped around everybody and sat back down at the Gryffindor table. After about ten minutes of autograph-signing and picture-taking, Jordan, Chad, Cyrus, Steve and Ian sat down at the Gryffindor table as well and started talking to themselves and people by them as they grabbed stuff to eat. 

"So that's New Found Glory," said Neville, holding the demo CD Jordan had given him when he said he had never been able to hear their music before. "They seem cool, they were nice to me… the one with the thumbtacks in his ears gave me a… um… round thing," he finished helplessly.

"CD. You put it in Muggle compact disc players, and it plays the music," Dean told him.

"This is AWESOME!" hissed Harry to Seamus, like a little teenybopper. "Did you see Malfoy's face when they sat down here?" he giggled evilly. "Okay, since when do I GIGGLE?"

Right about then, the all-powerful author stepped in and said, "Well, it IS my story. Anyway, can I have an autograph?" she whispered to the band. All five guys signed the scrap of paper that she had, then with a poof, she was gone.

"Okay, that was weird," said Ron to Hermione. Harry widened his eyes at Ron as Ron turned back toward him. 

"ASK HER!" he mouthed. 

"Er… hey, Hermione," Ron asked. She had been asking Cyrus a question about the type of cymbals he used, but when Ron said her name, she whipped around. 

"Yes?" 

"Er… youwangoballwime?" Ron inwardly smacked himself. He sounded extremely retarded.

Hermione's face flushed. "Really? You're asking me and not just as a last resort?"

"You understood what I said? Wow, no wonder you've the highest grades in the class."

Hermione looked confused, but she smiled. "Yes, I 'd like to go to the ball with you!" She blushed again, but was now smiling happily when she turned around to finish her conversation with NFG's drummer.

Harry and Dean looked at each other and then at Ron, then Dean said, "Way to score, Red!"

***

"Balls and dances. I hated those things," Ian groaned. "I could never get a date…"

"Well, we're just playing the music this time," said Jordan as he took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Speaking of music, what do you think we should play?"

"The Ball is four hours long," said Steve. "We can't possibly play straight through for that long without our fingers falling off, Cyrus' arms falling off or Jordan losing his voice."

"You dweeb," joked Chad. "We probably won't play straight through for that long- I bet there's going to be food first, then the kids are gonna dance. And we have a boom box with us; if we get too tired we can put a CD in and play some canned stuff. Plus we could tell jokes and stuff in between songs like we usually do, and there could be an intermission between sets."

Cyrus had finished telling Hermione what kind of drums he liked (one of her friends at home knew how to play) and had joined his buddies in their conversation by then. "Hey, what time is it, dude?" 

"Only eight-thirty," said Jordan, getting up from his chair. "Dudes, what are we going to do all day? There's nothing to do!"

"We could practice what we're gonna play tonight," said Steve.

"We could play chess," said Cyrus.

"We could play cards," said Chad.

"We could look at naked pictures of Britney Spears," Ian smiled evilly.

"IAN!"

"Sorr-eee!"

"Okay, okay, so I guess there's a lot of things we could do before the Ball starts." Jordan admitted.

As he spoke, he was almost interrupted by none other than the Weasley twins. Fred jumped right in by saying, "Well, we've heard you guys were pretty good pranksters when you went here… there's a certain person who we'd really like to get today… By the way, I'm Gred, and this is Forge."

"What's your best prank?" asked George.

"We did basic Muggle pranks, nothing out of the ordinary, caused Filch a heap of trouble though," laughed Jordan. 

"Heavy Dungbomb usage!" cackled Cyrus. "We also smuggled in a tape player and bewitched it so it would work… then we played music really loud."

"Have you heard of Crazy Candy Powder?" asked Fred, trying to be quiet.

"'Course they haven't, we just helped Hermione create it a few days ago, you twit," said George. "And you don't need to be quiet anymore, there's not very many people left in here."

"Anyway, if the Golden Twin over there would sod off, we wanted to know if you would know any other way to use it," asked Fred.

"What's it do?" asked Chad.

"Well, if you put it in someone's drink, or if they eat it or breathe it in, they'll become really crazy for a while," said George. "And the person we wanted to get today is Draco Malfoy," he said, pointing to the Slytherin table, and not being discreet at all.

"Oh yeah, he shoved someone out of his way today when he tried to get an autograph- he seemed like a poser to me, too," said Ian. 

"Well, you could use it in really high concentration and spike his drink. Oh, and if you really wanted to humiliate him, don't even use that, just use a charm that'll make him look like a girl for a few hours. It's… shit… what was the charm?" said Steve.

"Fidelus feminina," said Jordan.

Fred started laughing. "Alright! Thanks! We're going to go back up to Gryffindor Tower now, I think we'll use this well, won't we?" Fred asked his twin.

"Hell yes…" he winked and the twins turned to leave.

"Well, I guess we should set up our equipment before we do anything else," said Cyrus. "Shouldn't take too long, no one cares if we use magic here."

The five boys then took their wands out of their pockets and left the Great Hall.

***

Harry was still excited, even though he was getting the crap kicked out of him in chess by Ron. He, Ron, and Hermione were back in Gryffindor Tower and Hermione was trying to get them to finish up their homework so they could REALLY have a free day, but they were adamant against it. She had given up and resigned to reading a book.

"Did you two pick out costumes yet?" she then asked. 

"We have some normal clothes that we can wear," they said together.

Fred and George then burst out of the portrait hole, and George shouted happily, "Did you three need to get back at Malfoy for something?"

A/N: I should have had more interactions with more people in this chapter besides the bare necessities, but I think this is pretty long already… well, maybe I can fix it… R&R!


	17. update info

Er, I have something to say to you guys. I might not be able to update this very often for a few weeks after the New Year because of swimming and research papers and such, but I'll try as hard as I can. And for goodness sake, read and review! Lol. 


	18. costume ideas and a several blushing mal...

A/N: Holy SHENANIGANS! I'm finally back… I'm so sorry for not updating in like a gazillion years, I've had writer's block, plus I had some stories for the school paper to work on, and tests, and yeah. And swim practice is starting up again soon… NNGH! 

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Chapter 17

"Oy! We always needs to get back at Malfoy!" Harry looked up from the chess game, then at the grandfather clock in exasperation. It read eleven o'clock A.M. "Well, hurry up and explain the plan to us!"

"Patience, my son," said Fred. "It's really very simple."

"We asked the blokes from NFG for a good prank- apparently they'd really been good in their day-" George stated.

"It's a charm that will make Malfoy act completely like a girl for the entire ball," interrupted Fred. 

Harry and Ron burst into laughter. Hermione looked up from her book, interested. "So he'll act gay, or will he really be a girl?"

"I guess we should have asked Steve or Jordan. Apparently, they were the only ones to have ever used that charm," said George.

"But wouldn't it be even funnier to be surprised?" asked Ron rhetorically.

"Who invents these charms in the first place?" Hermione interrupted before either of the twins or Harry could answer Ron. 

"Does that really matter, 'Mione? Remember, you hate Malfoy!" Ron told her.

"I guess you're right," she grinned. This sounded amusing!

"So you want us to give you the charm then, kids?" asked Fred. The three nodded eagerly, and he said, "I only trust Hermione with casting it."

Harry and Ron's smiles drooped. They both shouted at Fred and George in unison, "WHY?"

"You two, with your history of misfiring spells, and even though Harry's been in a duel, would most likely miscast it, say the words wrong, or cast the spell on yourself by accident," George said. 

"Remember the slugs in second year, Ron? I know you had a broken wand, but still," said Hermione. 

Ron made a face, but he and Harry stopped whining. "Well, tell us the charm!" he said.

"Ready?" asked George. "Now, this is a very secret charm, let no one else know of it-"

"Shut up and tell them already," said Fred.

George growled at his twin, then whispered, "Fidelus feminina. No, Hermione, don't write it down," he said to Hermione who was busily scratching away at a piece of parchment with a quill she had whipped out of her pack.

"No, George, I'm not writing the charm down. But thank you for telling us. What I'm doing is sketching what I want my costume to look like for tonight's ball. Didn't you four know that there's a costume contest tonight? Oh, and by the way, Harry, if you want to ask Ginny to the ball-" Hermione pointed to Ginny who was taking a nap on one of the chairs in the common room and raised her eyebrows at Harry, "-you'd better hurry because I know of several other boys who are waiting to ask her. And she told me she wants to go with you. Go wake her up."

Harry was accosted by a deluge of glares from the three Weasleys standing next to him. 

"Don't hurt her," said Ron.

"Don't break her heart," said Fred.

"Oy, you stole what I was going to say, Ronniekins," said George. But he joined in the glaring.

"Honestly, BOYS, it's just a dance. If looks could kill, poor Harry would be dead by now. Ron, get over here. Fred, George, sit down and stop glaring at Harry," Hermione said bossily. 

Harry went over to Ginny where she was napping on the couch. Aware of Fred and George watching him, he became more and more nervous. "Ginny, wake up," he said quietly, poking her in her shoulder.

She woke up with a start and stared around wildly. "Oh, Harry!" she said, blushing. "Sorry, I didn't see you," she shyly sat up. 

"Er, Ginny, do you think I could ask you something?" Harry took a deep breath. Even after just waking up from a nap, Ginny was quite pretty. The freckles on her face just made her more beautiful, Harry thought. Wow. I've never really thought of her as much more than my best friend's little sister, but she's really grown up from the little girl who hid when I first came to visit!

"Sure, Harry," Ginny said.

"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Halloween Ball tonight as my date. I know that I've basically treated you just as a sister, but I really think that you're beautiful and you have a wonderful personality," Harry said, blushing.

Ginny's jaw dropped, then she pulled herself together. "Of course I'll go to the ball with you!" she said happily with a big smile. 

On the other side of the room, Ron's jaw dropped at the same time as his sister's when Hermione showed him her sketches for their costumes. Also strewn all over the table were British and American rock magazines, which was where Hermione got all of her ideas.

"You can't have me wear that!" Ron exclaimed under his breath so his brothers wouldn't hear. (He shouldn't have worried; they were too busy glaring at Harry!) What Hermione had sketched for him was a pair of very baggy skate pants, black and red. The pants had a flaming skull on the back, and a wallet chain attached. Ron would have a chain belt as well. He'd also be wearing Converse high-top shoes and a blue T-shirt that read "How to get girls… look like me" over a gray undershirt. Hermione had also sketched in numerous bracelets and necklaces on his costume, and there was a bow tie choker to top everything off. 

"Ron, calm down. I think you're going to look great. Oh, and I want to do your hair for you before the ball starts… liberty spikes. I have some electric blue gel that I got from a Muggle store outside Hogsmeade. You'll be the cutest bloke at the ball!" Hermione blushed. 

"Oh, fine," said Ron. "Wait, LIBERTY SPIKES? Augh. Oh well, all right, what's the prize for the costume contest, anyway?"

"Er, I think it was 100 galleons for first prize, 50 for second, and 25 for third. Now hush and look at the costume I have for me."

Hermione took the sketch of her dress out. She'd be wearing a long Victorian styled dress, with a low neckline and belled sleeves. The bodice of the dress would be dark purple with black laces, and the rest of the dress was a glittery black. There were black combat boots to go with the dress, and a spiked choker. 

"I'm not telling you how I'm going to do my hair, that's going to be a surprise," Hermione told Ron, whose mouth was still open.

"Blimey, 'Mione," he said, closing his mouth, "I think you're going to look really beautiful," he admitted truthfully.

"Aw, thank you," she replied, blushing, and nervously twirled a strand of her less-bushy-than-fourth year hair. Then, shaking her head at herself, Hermione whipped out her wand, waved it at the sketches on the table, and said several charms. The pieces of parchment disappeared to be replaced by boxes. Checking inside the boxes, Hermione nodded appreciatively and wrote "Ron" on one box and "Hermione" on the other. 

"Take this one," she said, handing him his box. Ron took it upstairs so that he'd have it to change into for the ball. Hermione grabbed her own box, bag, magazines, and quill, and went up the opposite staircase.

On the couch, Fred and George had decided that glaring evilly at Harry had gotten boring. Glancing at the clock, George noted that as it was almost noon, lunch would be soon. 

"Hey, Gred," George called to his twin, being swiftly reminded of something as Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet walked into the common room. "Did you ask Angelina to the ball yet?" 

"Ah! I guess I should," Fred returned. "Oy! Angelina…" he yelled across to common room to the tall black girl who was chatting with Alicia. "You want to go to the Halloween Ball with me?"

"Sure, Fred," said Angelina, walking across the room to him and depositing her friend Alicia in George's lap.

"I guess this means you're coming with me, hmm?" asked George. 

"I think so!" said Alicia.

"Now, ladies…" Fred said with a glint in his eye, "You know that there's a costume contest at this ball, now don't you?"

Angelina and Alicia smiled mischievously at their respective boyfriends and said together, "Well, we've already taken care of that!" and then took out plastic bags they'd been hiding behind their backs, giving them to the twins. 

George burst out laughing as he looked in his bag. Inside was a bright green leisure suit from the seventies, complete with big shoes and a big necklace. Fred did the same when he looked in his bag and saw a purple leisure suit.

"This is perfect!" he said, laughing. "And what about your costumes?"

"Well, we're going to be dressed like go-go dancers from this American movie we saw a few months ago," said Alicia. 

"But you two have to be surprised at our costumes! Go-go dancers is the only clue we're giving you!" said Angelina.

Fred had already brought up a somewhat racy mental image in his mind and was smiling happily. "Okay…"

Across the room, Harry and Ginny were talking to each other about THEIR costumes for the ball. Apparently, Ginny had already gotten several ideas from fellow Gryffindor girls, while Harry hadn't given the idea much thought at all.

"Well, Parvati is apparently going with Dean, and she told me that they're going to be dressed as magazine models for some Muggle clothes company-" Ginny began, and Harry imagined how embarrassed Dean might be. "Lavender and Seamus are going together, and Lavender told me they were going to be dressed as space aliens. Er, Colin Creevey is going with a fourth year from Hufflepuff and they're going to be pirates. And Neville is going with some girl from Ravenclaw, and they're going to be dressed as giant lobsters."

Harry laughed. "Lobsters?"

"Sure! And I have a good idea for our costumes, too," stated Ginny.

"I don't want to be any kind of sea creature," said Harry worriedly.

"No! We can be dressed as hippies! I remember my mother talking about how she went to some Muggle concert in America in the sixties, and everyone was dressed really wild and screaming about peace… she said she only went because of some British band called the Who. Well, my mum said that hippies wore bell-bottoms and lots of tie-dye, and they had their hair really long, and they wore wild colors of sunglasses and stuff."

"Bell-bottoms?"

"Jeans that are very wide at the bottom. Hold on a second, let me go up to the dormitory and show you what I'm wearing tonight." Ginny shot upstairs, nearly crashing into Hermione who was coming down. Hermione winked at Harry and sat on a couch to wait for Ron.

After quite a bit of banging around in her dormitory, Ginny found what she wanted and came down to show Harry. She had in her arms a pair of jeans with very big bottoms, a very colorful shirt that looked like it would be extremely tight, lots of pins, a big peace necklace, a bandana, and some flip-flop sandals.

"This is what I'm going to wear," she said. "And I think I can get something for you… hang on, let me talk to Hermione." Ginny went over to her friend and had her perform the charm she'd done for Ron's costume. Ginny thanked Hermione then walked back over to Harry with a box. "Here, open it."

Harry opened the box and saw a pair of jeans like Ginny's, but made for a guy. He took out the jeans and under then was a white shirt that said, "Make love, not war" and there was also a pair of Converse high-tops. Tucked into the shoes was a peace necklace like Ginny's and some pins.

"Hey, this looks kind of interesting," he said. 

"There's also a charm that I can do that will make your hair turn into dreadlocks," Ginny said, and seeing Harry's shocked look, she added, "You're going to look fine!"

A/N: I'll write another chapter really soon! Read and review!


	19. More blushing males and a narcoleptic dr...

A/N: Here I am, still suffering from writer's block- it's getting better! I promise! Read and review!

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Chapter 18

Up in the empty Gryffindor boys' dorm room, the five members of New Found Glory were hastily unpacking luggage that had been magicked up to the dormitory. They'd finished setting up all of their equipment on the stage Dumbledore had put up for them in the Great Hall, so they'd come up to Gryffindor Tower. Ian was grabbing a clean pair of socks from his overnight bag when he said,

"So, dudes, what's the set list going to be?"

"Got it!" said Steve, pulling an extremely wrinkled piece of paper from his bag. He squinted at it, then said with a completely straight face, "No, sorry, this is Jordan's receipt for all those sex toys he bought a few days ago."

"Let me see that!" shouted Jordan indignantly. He snatched the paper from Steve's hand. Glancing over it quickly, he said, "It IS not! I mean," he coughed, "I never bought any sex toys! Cyrussss!"

"What do you want, Jordan?" Cyrus asked sleepily from underneath the covers on his four-poster. Chad poked him and he quickly sat up. "Whattttt?" he whined. 

"Jordan is accusing you of buying sex toys," said Steve with a laugh.

"I didn't! You're just making things up. Now give me the set list," Cyrus replied. Jordan wrinkled his nose, wadded up the paper and threw it at his fellow bandmate.

"So this is what we're playing?" Ian asked, looking over Cyrus' shoulder and he unwadded the paper. He scanned the list, saying some song names to himself at random times. "Hit or Miss, My Friends Over You, Sucker, Head On Collision, Broken Sound…" 

"We're playing more than that," Jordan broke in.

"I know that, you idiot, I was just reading some of them out loud that I thought were some of our best ones!" said Ian.

"Oh."

"This the order, too?" asked Chad, snatching the paper from Cyrus, who promptly put his head back down on the pillow. "Looks good to me. But…" he put the paper down on a desk and picked up the quill that was on the desk, dipping it in ink. He crossed out "The Blue Stare", replacing it with "Want You to Want Me". "Remember this Cheap Trick cover we did a while ago?" he said. "That was the one we didn't want to put on the _From the Screen to your Stereo_ album? Well, we should play that tonight along with those other tracks that we picked from that album."

"Sounds okay to me," Cyrus said, randomly waking up and scaring the four other males in the room half to death. "And I brought some CDs that we can play if we get tired, like between sets… we are doing two sets, right?" and he took the paper back from Chad, who was waving it around to dry the ink. "Yeah. Okay. Well, let's see. There should be at least… well, hang on. How long are out sets going to be?" He looked at the paper again. "Both are an hour and a half… so that leaves an hour for us to not play. We could have two breaks of a half hour each, or four of fifteen minutes, or-"

Jordan cut him off. "Well, the kids are going to be eating supper first anyway, so that should last at least a half hour. I think we should be playing some while they're eating so they'll randomly come on the dance floor. Then we can have four fifteen minute breaks- one in the middle of the first set, one at the end, and one in the middle of the second set."

"You're fifteen minutes short, bro," said Chad.

"Oh. Well, then we can fill that fifteen minutes up during the whole dance with jokes and stuff," Jordan finished. "Oh, Cyrus, which CDs did you bring? Will our boom box even work in Hogwarts?"

"Weren't you even WATCHING when I took it over to Professor Dumbledore and asked him to bewitch it so it would work?" Cyrus said. "In answer to your first question, I have Punk-o-Rama 6 and 7. There's about an hour and forty-five minutes of music on both of those, so we'll have to pick which ones we want to play while we're not playing." He proceeded to shove Ian off the side of his four-poster and went over to the desk with his two CDs, saying, "Well HELLO… aren't you four going to help me pick some tracks?" He ran back to his bed and got his bag out, and took out his laptop. "We should make a mix so it's easier to play these."

His four bandmates, laughing, all pulled chairs up to the desk. 

"We better hurry, dudes," said Ian, looking at his watch. "It's 12:15- lunch is starting!"

"We can come in late! We used to do that all the time on free days when we were here," said Steve.

"Fine…"

***

"So I say to her, 'You can't have me wear that!'" Ron was saying through a mouthful of potato salad at the Gryffindor House Table. "And you know what she said to me? Ask me what she said to me!"

"What did she say to you, Ron?" asked Harry, humoring his best friend.

"She said, 'You'll be the cutest bloke at the ball!'" Ron said excitedly, blushing furiously and ending up looking like a freckled tomato. He looked over at Hermione, who was sitting next to him in her Muggle clothes, talking to Devin Lynch. Pieces of their conversation were drifting over to Harry and Ron, and Ginny on Harry's left side. 

Hermione was in the midst of a long ramble about Muggle things, waving her hands about excitedly. Poor Devin was starting to look a little lost, his blue eyes following her hands confusedly. 

"So Devin! My dear old boy…" Fred said, wandering into the Great Hall and unknowingly rescuing Devin from Hermione. Hermione, slightly confused, turned back around to Ron and Harry. 

"Harry, can I switch seats with you? If you've finished lunch," Hermione asked. Harry nodded, but grabbed his plate and then switched seats with her. 

"Hullo Ginny!" Hermione said brightly once Harry had gotten out of the way and started talking to Ron and a few of the other boys in their year. 

"Hi, Hermione," Ginny replied. "So are you excited about going to the Ball this year with my prat of a brother?"

Hermione started to blush, then swatted Ginny's shoulder jokingly, saying, "Of course I am! I've been waiting for that boy to ask me somewhere for about three years!"

Ginny chuckled, and Hermione continued, "Are you excited to be going with Harry?"

This time, Ginny blushed bright red. "I sure am! I've had a crush on HIM practically from the very first time I saw him!" She started to laugh, then asked Hermione, "So what are your and Ron's costumes for the ball going to look like?"

"Well, I sketched both of ours early this morning. Mine is a black and purple Victorian-style dress, and Ron is wearing extremely punk Muggle clothes. He's going to look great!"

Ron, who was still talking with Harry, overheard this statement, grinned broadly and looked at Hermione, then went back to talking. 

"Well, Harry and I are going dressed as hippies," Ginny began. Hermione, who already knew about hippies, smiled.

"Aw! You two will look so cute!" she said.

"Yeah… but I was thinking of instead of having him wear the shirt I originally was going to make him wear, I think I'm going to have him wear one of the Who's concert shirts and a leather vest over that. What do you think?"

Hermione smiled and replied, "That sounds good! I'll help you get it after lunch." She picked up Harry's unused spoon and twirled it in her fingers. "So anyway…"

Next to Hermione, Ron, Harry, Dean and Seamus were having quite an animated conversation about Muggle music. Neville was sitting there as well, but he wasn't really saying much because he hadn't any idea what they were talking about.

"Me dad used to listen to the Clash all the time," said Dean. "We have a load of old records in our house that he still listens to!" 

"What's a record?" asked Ron, baffled.

"Come on, Ron, your dad loves Muggle things, you've probably got a record player and a few records lying around your house," Seamus said.

"Oh, are they those big round black things? Me mum liked a band called the Who. I think we do have a few records lying about in the house."

"There you go!" Harry patted Ron on his shoulder, then checked his watch. "Well, it's about 12:45 now, in case you wanted to know," he said to his friends. 

Dean picked up his goblet of pumpkin juice and took a big swig. "What are we going to do for the rest of the day until the ball? We don't get dinner until it starts, and that's at eight." As he spoke, Jordan, Chad, Steve, Ian and Cyrus walked into the Great Hall and took five chairs from where people had already left, and started to eat lunch, looking half-asleep. Indeed, Cyrus' face was practically on his plate. 

Harry, poking Ron, grinned cheekily. "We should cast that one charm on Malfoy!"

"What charm?" Seamus jumped right in, interested.

"Oh, it'll turn him into a girl for- well, I don't know how long. But it should be really funny!" said Harry.

A few chairs down from the five boys, Jordan heard Harry and said loudly, "Trying the _fidelus feminina _charm, huh?"

"Yeah, but we don't know how well it'll work," said Ron.

"When I used it, it lasted about an hour, but if you have a stronger magic-user casting it, I think it could last a little longer than that- two hours at the very least," Jordan said. 

"Oy, Hermione," Ron poked her in the shoulder. "You're going to have to cast that charm on Malfoy right before the ball!"

"Oh, you're the pretty girlie I was talking to earlier!" Cyrus woke up again. "Are you a strong witch?" asked Steve.

"Is she? She's the smartest person in our entire year!" Ron piped up. 

"You should be able to make this Malfoy bloke act completely gay for at least two hours," Jordan told Hermione. She smiled evilly, and Jordan returned the grin and went back to eating his salad.

"I still want to know what we're going to do for the next seven hours!" cried Dean.

"Five, two hours to get ready!" said Ginny. 

"For you GIRLS, yes, and Malfoy, but we only need an hour!" said Seamus. "Of course, our dearest girls will probably take three hours," Dean said, winking at Parvati, who giggled. 

Everyone laughed, and Ron said, "We could play chess…"

He was answered with a resounding "NO!" from everyone in the vicinity. 

"I need to do some of my schoolwork," said Hermione, "And I think the rest of you should too."

"No, Hermione! No homework today!" said Ginny. "Merlin help us, no homework today!"

"Well, what else is there to do?" Harry asked.

Parvati and Lavender had joined in the conversation by this time. "Well, we could play a few Muggle games, like Spin the Bottle or Truth or Dare in the common room!" Parvati said.

Everyone groaned. "NO!!!!" 

Hermione got out of her chair and said, "Well, I'm going back up to the Gryffindor Tower, I have an owl I need to send-"

"Owl! Now what does this remind me of? Hogsmeade! Isn't today a Hogsmeade day? Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell us that it was this morning? That must be why the Great Hall is so empty already," said Ron, getting up as well.

"Oy, you're right, little brother," said George, who had wandered over to their end of the table. "And the carriages leave pretty soon, too!"

"Let's go to Hogsmeade, then," Hermione said. "I just need my cloak- Ginny, Lavender, Parvati, come on. We'll meet the rest of you out by the carriages in five minutes."

All the boys who were still at the table checked their pockets and made sure that they had money, then got up and followed the girls.

"We'll wait for you in the common room so we can walk you to the carriages," said Ron.

***

In a short time, everyone had gotten everything they needed to go out, grabbing wands, cloaks, extra money, and other items of that sort. Within five minutes, the entire group was waiting for the carriages to take them to Hogsmeade. 

Fred grinned wickedly. "I think I need some more Dungbombs…"

A/N: That's right, read and review, kiddies… I love you all…


	20. and we're ALL confused

A/N: God, here I am. I'm so sorry it's been so long… but I have been suffering from one HELL of a case of writer's block. And it SUCKS. Plus I'm going off to camp for 6 weeks, so I won't update then either… and I have to get this out before I leave tomorrow. Dear gods, help.

****

Chapter 19

Hogwarts students talked animatedly to each other on their way to Hogsmeade as the carriages bumped and bounced along the road. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sharing a carriage, and they were conversing about the Halloween Ball that night.

"I'm really excited about the music," said Harry. "I've never been able to see a good band that I like live."

"I'm excited about the dance in general," said Hermione. She looked at Ron, who was sitting next to her, and blushed crimson.

Harry and Ginny shared a 'about-time-stupid-Ron-and-Hermione-got-the-bloody-picture' look. However, both of them were relieved from the awkward silence in the carriage when it finally rumbled to a stop. The four of them hopped out, Ron saying,

"Well, it's about a quarter after one, where do you three want to go first?" Ron didn't exactly mind where they went, as long as he could be with a certain bushy-haired goddess, but he asked everyone anyway.

"Oy, do you want to go to Zonko's with us first?" asked Fred, popping out of nowhere with Angelina hanging on to his hand, a smile lighting up her dark skin. 

"I've got to pick up those Dungbombs," George said, sidling up behind his twin with Alicia, smiling just as brightly as Angelina, hanging on to HIS hand.

"Yeah, all right, we're coming," said Harry, and grinned when Dean and Seamus, with Parvati and Lavender on their arms, walked past them into the Three Broomsticks.

"Oy, meet us in here when you finish and Zonko's!" called Seamus to the group as they passed. Ron nodded to Seamus and the rest of them headed for Zonko's Joke Shop.

Zonko's was already full of other Hogwarts students looking around. Fred and George automatically dragged their respective girlfriends toward a large barrel at the back of the shop, under a sign that read "Dungbombs and Stink Pellets, 4 Knuts apiece". 

Hermione and Ginny were looking at the "Trick Toys" section of Zonko's, where several barrels and glass cases held Nose-Biting Teacups, Frog-Spawn Soap, Trouble Bubble gum, and a lot of other things besides. Hermione held up a package containing a few Hiccup Sweets and asked Ginny, "Do you think Harry and Ron might take a bit of this if I told them it was from Honeydukes?" 

Ginny giggled, and she and Hermione headed up to the cash register with their purchases. On their way, Ginny saw some new items that had come in and picked up some Cherry-Flavored Ants. Laughing to herself, she thought that maybe she could trick her brothers into eating a few.

Meanwhile, over by the door, Harry and Ron were gleefully examining their purchases. Ron was showing Harry his bagful of Dungbombs and the Fanged Frisbee he'd bought. Harry stuffed his own bag of Dungbombs into a pocket of his robes as Fred, George, Angelina, and Alicia walked past them out the door, saying, "We'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks in five minutes!"

Harry's watch read two-o-clock by the time Hermione and Ginny caught up to them and the four walked into the pub. Festive Halloween decorations adorned the walls and ceiling, and Harry nearly tripped on a pumpkin. The twins and their girlfriends waved from a table near the front of the pub, where several other seventh years sat. Ron called to them, "We'll sit over here with them," pointing to Dean, Seamus, Parvati, and Lavender, who were drinking butterbeers at a table close to the back.

They approached the large table and dropped all of their things. "Hullo," Seamus acknowledged the four.

"I'll go up to get the drinks," said Ron. "Hermione, come with me. Butterbeers sound good?" And he and Hermione walked off to the bar, where Madam Rosmerta was pouring drinks for a group of rather rowdy warlocks.

Dean wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and said, "About bloody time those two got the picture!"

"They haven't fought at all in the past few days, either," said Harry, sounding amazed. Having been best friends with Hermione and Ron for the past five years, this came as a big surprise to him. 

"Wonder what they've been doing instead, eh?" said Seamus, wiggling his eyebrows in the exact same way Dean had been.

The six Gryffindors at the table exploded into laughter, which continued until Ron and Hermione came walking back to the table with four butterbeers. Then it abruptly stopped.

"Oh, we weren't laughing," Ginny replied to Hermione's raised eyebrow. "We were… er, we were practicing… our singing! Right, singing, that's it." Ginny's statement, having made no sense whatsoever, caused everyone to start laughing again, Ron and Hermione included. They were just settling down in their chairs when a familiar, if extremely annoying, drawling voice reached their ears.

Draco Malfoy had just sauntered through the door of the Three Broomsticks, Pansy Parkinson hanging on to his hand for dear life (although he didn't look too happy about this arrangement) and Crabbe and Goyle in their usual spots as his bodyguards. As Malfoy stalked up to the bar to get drinks, he noticed the group of Gryffindors sitting and laughing. He sneered at them as he continued his conversation with Pansy (well, she was the one doing most of the conversing). After they had gotten their butterbeers, in bottles instead of tankards, they all walked past the friends' tables, Malfoy saying in a loud voice, 

"Let's go outside… it stinks of a Mudblood in here."

Harry had to grab Ron by his shirt collar to keep him from leaping over the table to get at Malfoy. Ron's ears were bright red as he called Malfoy everything he could think of until Hermione clamped her hand over his mouth. Malfoy glanced once more over his shoulder as they left, glaring at Ron.

"Ron, it's all right, I can handle this myself," she said gently. "We'll just see what he thinks at the ball!" She quickly put her bushy hair into a ponytail. "So Harry, what's new?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject.

He was about to answer when the door banged open again and Neville came into the pub with a girl none of them knew. When they came up to the table the Gryffindors were at, the girl gave them a dreamy-eyed look and a smile when Neville introduced her. 

"This is Luna Lovegood, from Ravenclaw. She's my date to the Yule Ball," she said, blushing. Luna smiled again and waved brightly to Ginny, who waved back, somewhat confused.

"Luna's in my year, she's a bit… can you say… odd? She's very nice though, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts together," Ginny said quietly to Harry.

By the time Neville and Luna had gotten their drinks and settled down at the table, Harry checked his watch again. "A quarter after three already!" he exclaimed to himself. 

"We don't have to be back until four," Hermione reminded him.

For the 45 minutes they had left, the group sat and chatted. They also watched the wide assortment of people who came in and out of the pub. When the twins, Angelina, and Alicia left at 5 till four, the rest of the group decided they might as well get going also. They got up and left the pub and went back to the carriages that were to return them to Hogwarts.

On most of the journey back to school they sat in companionable silence, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sharing a carriage. After a while, Ginny broke the silence, saying, "So are you three excited about the ball tonight?"

"I'm scared about what I'm WEARING," complained Ron. He turned to Hermione. "How do we know I'm not going to take someone's eye out with those-those Liberty spike things?"

"Ron, you're going to look fine, you're just going to look like you dropped out of London during the seventies punk movement."

"I'm going to what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Must I go into the history of this? I'd rather not. You're going to look fine." She glared at Harry and Ginny who were laughing quietly on the opposite seat. "And who knows, maybe I'll snog you to within an inch of your life tonight…" she added quietly, so no one could hear.

"Wait, what?" Ron felt that he'd missed something important. Five minutes later the carriages came to a stop and everyone climbed out. 

"Three hours until the ball, girls," said Harry. 

"Oh! We need to start getting ready!" Ginny shrieked at Hermione, who then in turn shrieked at Parvati and Lavender. The boys watched interestedly as their dates ran like nuts through the castle door. Harry and Ron could catch bits of their conversation as they zoomed by- 

"Shower-" Hermione began.

"Take it first, then we need to-" Lavender continued.

"Do makeup next, then get-" said Ginny.

"Costumes on, then hair, we should be-" babbled Parvati.

"Finished this century, or next?" Dean called after them.

A/N: I'm sooooo sorry this chap was so short, I didn't have much time and I wanted this up as soon as possible- sorry for the wait! Review please!


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